This disclosure relates to a seating arrangement for a vehicle. More specifically, this disclosure is related to a seating arrangement for a vehicle having a rear seat, such as a sport utility vehicle (“SUV”) or a van, including a mini-van.
To provide flexibility among seating arrangements for a row of seating, it is typical to offer a consumer different options such as a removable center seat, a two-person bench, captain's chairs or a three-person bench. These options are offered at the point of sale for the vehicle. Such seating arrangements provide consumer choice at the time of sale because the consumer can choose a particular seating arrangement when purchasing the vehicle.
Offering a two-passenger or a three-passenger seating arrangement at the point of sale offers a choice to the consumer, but provides the consumer no flexibility after the vehicle is purchased. A removable center seat can provide greater flexibility than a three-person bench, but the removed center seat must be removed and stored, which is not user friendly. Also, a removable center seat also has a cost and weight increase associated with the extra slide rails, recliners, vertical frame members and other components associated with the removable seat.